Novus Ordo Vehemens--An AvRen 2009 IRP-spinoff fic

[Tera253]

UPDATE 6-14-2011 AND ENDING

Sooo… this is just an idea or five that I’ve had rattling in my head for a little bit. It’s basically a modernized AvRen Zombie IRP with elements of mafia rulership thrown in, and a few other crazy things that make this 21st century AvRen fanfic just outright wild. However, that’s the fun part.

Granted, I probably raped every character's personality that appears in this story somehow, even Zuroc. Furthermore, there are a few [two, I believe] of my own TOAS OCs thrown in, but don’t worry, they’re not the main characters. I’m not that biased.
Did I have fun writing this story [or rather, the parts I’ve finished]? Yes, I did. Do I have regrets about what I’ve done to the characters? Not at all. I’m satisfied with the roles that I’ve given the characters, including my own. I didn’t want to favor al of my own characters, as that would be untasteful and uninteresting. If there is anyone I’m missing or if anyone wishes for a guest appearance of some sort, let me know.

Oh, and there are two or three characters from the show that cameo with significant roles. That said and done, here’s the prologue and character cast. And please tell me you get what "Ay-Pi" means, and what W-T, E-K, and F-N mean.

THE STORY (PROLOGUE)
There was once a time when the city of Ay-Pi was a peaceful, harmonious metropolis. But that was long, long ago. Now, it’s run by mafia-like gangs, who have taken over the four sectors of the city and rule them with their mobs and followers as if they were theirs to do so with. The issue that has arisen even more recently, however, is the issue of the zombie raids. These zombie figures, former members of the local populace from all four sectors, seem to have a way to be controlled. Zuroc Takamatzu did this very thing, leading an invasion force against the A-B sector of the city, where most of the airbenders were. The airbenders being easily the weakest population of Ay-Pi, fell like dominos to Zuroc’s grasp.

However, her reign of terror was short-lived, as not much later she was apprehended by Scarlet Kaji-Yuri and Heng Geng, who, for reasons of their own, gave the rulership to a fellow Fire Nationer, Sage Yao.

Zuroc was imprisoned in a mental asylum, where she resides to this day. She is much calmer now—or so it seems, but the city is far from being peaceful again. Zuroc’s capture did not end the zombie raids, meaning that there was someone out there getting more zombies, and more importantly, controlling them. This is where our story picks up—with our heroes Ryo and Mathius, searching for the source of the zombies, and more importantly, a way to bring Ay-Pi back into prosperity.

The Role which heroes [and villains] Play on an International scale:
[character cast. *= TOAS character, **= canon Avatar character. Iroh is UI]
Color is nationality, and characters without set ages got one assigned to them.

Ryo [M, 32] Usually tags along with Mathius, as his logic sometimes gives him the inspiration he needs. Ryo supports the F-N in this war, but is willing to accuse Scarlet if logic points him in that direction.

Mathius [M, 23]A well-known hero of AP, known almost too well due to his always poking around for evidence of such and such a crime or event. He is currently trying to get to the bottom of the zombie cases.

Scarlet Kaji-Yuri [F, 25] “The cultist”. She is edgy around people, and people are edgy around her, many fearing that she possesses arcane powers. She is easy going, but seems too calm with all the chaos erupting around her. She has, however, seen and fought the zombies before, and has a head of one in her home. Moreover, her act of herism in imprisoning Zuroc has made her a hero.

Kilon [M, 27] The leader of the Ay-Pi police force. He claims to be just, but it has been rumored that like many other people, he simply works for the highest bidder, or the one that will keep him out of harm’s way. He visits Zuroc often, and the mystery behind that is still unclear.

Sang Sung [M, 27] always drunk, and usually marginally insane. He, however, has many accomplices, and getting after him usually ends in a losing game for the instigator of the “attack” as a result.

Kichirou [M, 29] Notorious dealer who has helped out the bosses as well as the folks striving to free Ay-Pi from their clutches. Seems to have a thing for Scarlet, and claims to have met the zombies.

Hara [F, 24] Ay-Pi's news reporter, though she seems to have another identity as a warrior. She fights for the E-K region, loyally supporting them until the bitter end. She seems to have a very influential hand in the media and the way things are run in the ways of Ay-Pi. Has seen and fought the zombies before, helping Scarlet in defeating Zuroc.

Yao, [M, 82] The man who has replaced Zuroc as the boss of the A-B sector of Ay-Pi. While he claims to be helping restore this sector to its former glory, some of his tactics and motives are heavily questioned at times, and many of the A-B citizens are trying to dethrone him. [eliminated by Mai]

Hama** [F, 93] The woman who rules the W-T sector of Ay-Pi as its boss. She uses whatever tactics she can to keep her grip upon it, and she has many followers. She is marginally insane—nearly as insane as Zuroc was before her fall.

(Uncle) Iroh [M, 55] The man who rules the F-N sector of Ay-Pi. He is a lot more easy-going than many of his fellow firebenders, and moreso than the other bosses, resulting in an influx of migrants from the other sectors into his sector.

Pasaraval [M, 32] The man who leads the E-K sector of Ay-Pi as its boss. He rules his sector with an iron fist, and his mobs silence anyone who questions them. However, reports of the zombie invasions have set him sending out troops to destroy these foes. He's not so concerned with domination as much as he is just keeping his sctor form falling apart like A-B did.

Zuroc Takamatzu [F, 66] The former boss of the defeated A-B sector, which was defeated because of her doings, who is now held in an F-N sector asylum. She is rather deranged, and her defeat and capture by Scarlet seemed too easily pulled off—as a result, she is highly watched and not trusted in the remotest, usually by Kilon or Heng Geng. She is also visited by Mathius.

Mai** [F, 15] Mai appears as a badass warrior who is so far invincible. Taking crap form no, one, Mai silences her enemies swiftly and effectively, most of the time not even being seen except for the trademark dagger which has found its way into her enemy’s throat.

Sojun [M, 29] Part of Kilon’s police force, and head sheriff. He claims to lay down the law justly, but when it all boils down, it’s quite obvious that he is biased in favor of his own W-T sector of Ay-Pi and its non-foreign inhabitants.

Shila [F, 27] Head Deputy of Kilon’s police force and an influential figure with Hara and the media. She is the link between Hara’s media stories and the police.

Heng Geng [M, 90] Like Zuroc, Heng Geng has seen and fought the zombie raids. However, unlike Zuroc who used them to overtake the A-B sector of Ay-Pi, he invested all of his efforts into stopping them. Heng is a friend of Ryo and Mathius as well, and plays that “wise old man” part pretty well up to date. Ryo sometimes makes joke about Heng Geng and Zuroc.

Tenoko Dragmire* [F, 43] A very influential figure in the media, Tenoko usually prints stories that Hara wrote for her news channel in the city’s newspaper. They are in fact affiliated, and rumors that these two may be corrupt has led some people to question the media that is presented to the city as a whole.

Long Feng** [M, 39] They guy who controls the police and the media., and in essence, the whole town of Ay-Pi. It is rumored, however, that he is corrupt and mad for power, but his grand efforts to prevent zombie invasions have made him a hero in the eyes of the citizenry. Only the careful ones see through this.

Felix Rei [M, 30] The man who is rumored to be controlling Kilon and Sojun's police force, either by bribery or blackmail. Is called "The Shadow Boss" because he is constantly on the move--and in the shadows, seldom seen.

Ariana [F, 24] Automobile expert and manager of a local fast food joint. With the types of customers she gets, she usually has all kinds of information. In the manager’s office of this fast food joint there is a stockpile of guns—the presence of which is not explained. [believed to have been eleminated in the A-B explosion]

Sanaki Foxx* [F, 17] Martial arts expert and psychic hypnotist. Claims to be blind, and has a good friendship with Scarlet, who she calls “Scar”. She is believed to be in the same cult that Scarlet is in, as the two are often seen conversing about the subject, and zombies.

Ryu Akoda [M, 34] A local barman, who replaced its former owner, who was killed in a zombie raid. As a result of this raid, he now invests his money in guns too, thus turning his bar into a bar/gun shop, despite the odd combination.

Jin [F, 24] The Avatar and in essence, the rightful mayor of Ay-Pi. However, her naïveté and ignorance to her heirship has enabled Long Feng to run it instead. He, however, shows little concern for it, and has allowed the media to do what they please as long as there is nothing that goes against him—which is a surprisingly easy task. [eliminated by Sanaki Foxx]

Jiru Mirisu [M, 37] The fat guy down the street whose house is a safe haven. He has no enemies because he is friendly to all—some people might have manipulated this, but all in all he still lives happily by himself and his game consoles.

Hisashi Sho [M, 25] The dependable accomplice. He is usually the messenger between the bosses, and even between Mathius and Ryo, and Tenoko and Hara. He even sees Kilon and Zuroc frequently. [believed to have been eliminated in the A-B explosion]

Kip [M, 33] One of the A-B sector residents who is building up a religious army to march against Sage Yao and therefore reclaim the A-B territory in the name of the airbenders who should rightfully own it, but have since lost it to the Fire Nation after Zuroc Takamatzu commanded a hoard of zombies and successfully defeated it. [believed to have been eliminated in the A-B explosion]

Necrobutcher [M, 24]a street thug who usually lives in alleys. He knows almost everyone in the dangerous parts of town, and for a small price, will lead a person safely through these parts and enlighten them with information regarding who is safe and who is not.

Nova [F, 33] The woman at the Ice Bar who seems to have lots of connections, and usually provides Ryo and Mathius with information they need. However, she shares her information with more people than just Mathius and Ryo.

Ganzu [M, 39] An advisor to Long Feng. He seems to be trying to get Long Feng to turn against Hara and Tenoko, but supports keeping Jin in the dark about her mayorship.

Jiang [M, 76] An old guy. His role will be seen later.

Zephyros Vayu [M, 23] part of the police force. His full role will later be seen. [eliminated by Mathius after being turned into a zombie.]

Hiaso [M, 47] part of the A-B sector’s rebellion, headed by Kip. Also part of the old A-B police force.[eliminated by Ryo after being turned into a zombie.]

Hanshin [M, 19] a younger guy. His role will be seen later. [turned into a zombie and eliminated by Scarlet]

Arako [M, 33] His role is currently unknown. He is however, known to have connections with Sanaki, Scarlet, Hara, and Zuroc.

MEMBER CITIZENS
[members of AP that appear as random citizens. Most of them are going to die, but they are here anyways. If you're not on this list, you must not have been deemed important enough to be here.]
Ruds [Disasterpiece] [killed in Zombie Raid]
Sky [ScarletCougar] [killed as a zombie]
Tag [Gotag] [killed in the A-B raid]
Tera [Tera253]
Hybrid [Hybrid] [killed as a zombie]
Uncle [Uncle Iroh]
Ozai [Ozai]
Nev [RawrNev]
Marik [Marik] [killed in a zombie raid]
AA [AvatarAzula] [killed in a riot]
Monk [WaterbendingMonk] [killed in the A-B raid]
Connie [Conzu]
[s]Flam [Flam] [found dead in front of Scarlet's Apartment]
Kuku [Kumani]
Jon [Snake of the South] [killed in zombie attack]
Ollie [Outlaw]
Poi [Poi]
Kip [Kip336] [killed in a riot]
Pleh [Pleh] [believed to have been eliminated in the A-B explosion]
Loong [Griffin] [killed as a zombie]
Zero [ZeroLott]
Tiny [Tinyartist18] [killed as a zombie]
Mij [Mijuu]
Spitty [AsianSpitfire101] [killed in the A-B raid]
Met [Metallica1554] [found dead in front of Scarlet's Apartment]
Tev [Tev]
Flavor [Rrrachael][attacked by zombies but is still aive and well]
Red [WindDance22]
Count [CountofMontyFisto]
RWT [RWT]
Fail [RongNuShii] [killed in the A-B raid]
Zuzu [Zuko614][killed and mauled by zombies]

*************************************************************
that said, yes, people will die, yada yada. I already know what a lot of people will and will not be doing.

happy IRPing.
~Azula~

[Tera253]

no pre-chapter comments... just Chapter 1.

CHAPTER 1
It’s just another typical day in Ay-Pi—nothing that hasn’t happened hundreds of times before; just news of killings, again of more nameless civilians. The city is a dangerous place to be roaming at night unless you have connections with the appropriate don of your sector, and that you carry some form of weapon with you.
Mathius kicked open his apartment door and slouched down on his sofa, popping a can of soda and flipping on the television. Nowadays he usually only ever watched one channel, and that was the Channel 15 News. He was not surprised to see Hara, the newscaster, ranting on about some epic and violent death, this time about an incident connected to bloodbending, and one involving an inferno. Hara proceeded to give the names of the victims and short descriptions of who they were.

“My next report, however” Hara continued, keeping her newsroom poker face, “is far more alarming. The Ice Bar, a famous local bar and nightclub located in the W-T regions of Ay-Pi, was raided last night by what was believed to have been zombies. The only evidence left of its owner, Marik, is his head, which was placed on a small pedestal in plain sight. We go now live to Chief of Police Kilon for his report.”

“WHAT!?!” Mathius roared. He had not known Marik on a personal level, but the two were close friends, as he frequented the Ice Bar.
As Police Chief Kilon, as well as his head Sheriff Sojun, described the scene and their knowledge of what had happened, there was a knock at the door. Mathius did not even get up.

“Come in, Ryo,” he called out, for he knew what Ryo was about to alert him of—or rather, he could likely guess.

“Mathius,” he exclaimed, “They—”

“Got Marik, I know,” Mathius finished for him, “I’m watching it right here.”

“This does not mean,” Kilon declared to the camera, “that we need to panic just yet. This is not undeniable evidence of zombie attacks, and is believed to be the work of one of the enemy mob leaders.”

“The F-N Sector is foremost believed to be behind it,” Sojun added, “mainly due to the deep rifts they’ve had with the W-T sector over the years.”

“You know,” Mathius remarked, “I was pretty sure that Sojun would try to link this back to someone outside of his sector.”

“It figures,” Ryo replied, “the W-T and the F-N sectors are opposites, just like the A-B sector and the E-K sector are. That’s why they have no common boundaries with each other.”

The city of Ay-Pi was divided into four main sections. To the northwest was the F-N sector, to the southeast was the W-T sector, to the northeast was the A-B sector, and to the southwest was the E-K sector. Where these sectors collided was about 500-1000 feet of “demilitarized zone” where no mob had serious influence.

“The destruction of the A-B sector seems to boost the powers of E-K.” Mathius remarked, “With their main rivals severely weakened, they will be able to worry about larger things.”

“I don’t think this is E-K’s doing, or even that Don Pasaraval was even involved. He’s too busy fixing up his best troops to make then invincible—then when they find the zombies, it will be the zombie heads that get put on pedestals.”

“Wait,” Mathius explained, “doesn’t Kaji-Yuri Scarlet have one of those things—a zombie head on a pedestal?”

“She does,” Ryo answered, “She performs rituals with it or around it—she’s downright crazy if you ask me.”

“But she knows about the zombies,” Mathius warned, “and that alone makes her a good source of information.”

“True,” Ryo remarked,” until she turns and sacrifices you next.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Mathius argued,

“She did it to Zuko,” Ryo replied, “and they were close friends.”

“So just stay on your guard, sissy,” Mathius chuckled, “I’ll be back in a bit. I’ll be at her apartment.”

“Fine,” Ryo growled, “I’ll follow you.”

Mathius chuckled and patted Ryo on the back. “I knew you’d come to your senses,” he chuckled, and hitting the ‘down’ button on the elevator, he and Ryo stepped in.

Scarlet’s apartment was on the 2nd floor right above the garbage bins. It was lucky that there was no one beneath her, because with her countless weird rituals and things she did, it would have been quite the disturbance.

Mathius went and knocked on the door. He did not step back, because if Scarlet was there, she would simply call for whoever it was to come in. They heard her voice, and therefore they entered.

Scarlet’s living room was much different from Mathius’. Along the walls were shelves of strange liquids, magical trinkets, a shelf or two of ancient-looking books, and even a couple of shrunken heads. In the middle of the room was an altar, on which was a pedestal with a zombie’s head atop it. In front of this was a cauldron full of water. The room was dimly lit, and there seemed to be strange noises coming from somewhere in the apartment. Ryo and Mathius passed this and into the dining room, where Scarlet was sitting at her table in front of a television, eating a hamburger and watching a police report, which was an elaboration on the story earlier about the Ice Bar raid. Apparently they were gathering new information about it, and the fact that Scarlet had a bag of fast food next to her made Ryo suspicious. It meant that unless someone delivered it to her, something that he could not see anyone doing, she had recently been out on the town. Scarlet’s whole apartment seemed dimly lit, and the walls lined with unusual artifacts or beaded chains.

“Ryo, Mathius,” she remarked, turning to see who she had just invited in, “what can I help you with today?” she asked them, inviting them to take a seat, which they did.

“You know how we are,” Ryo answered before Mathius could, “we’re trying to track down the zombie cases.”

“Of course,” Scarlet replied coolly, “so I take it you want to know where I was when the Ice Bar was raided?”

“Bingo,” Ryo responded, “the police don’t always tell everything that they should to the public.”

“Well,” Scarlet continued, “I was at Ariana’s getting myself something to eat.” She indicated the burger, fries and drink. The only religious act I did between my departure and my return was a prayer, but it was about something completely different.”

“You do understand why we would suspect you though, correct?” Mathius asked politely; both he and Ryo were close friends of Scarlet, and they were not about to just up and betray her.

“Yep,” Scarlet replied, “one look at my living room would answer that. However, I regret to inform you that I was not involved in the case. Did you catch who the new owner of the Ice Bar is going to be?”

“Nope,” Ryo answered, “that was fast though,”

“Well, it was in Marik’s will,” Scarlet remarked, “its Ryu Akoda.”

Mathius suddenly turned to Ryo, his eyes wide.

“You’re the new owner of the Ice Bar?” he exclaimed, and Ryo laughed.

“R-Y-O and R-Y-U are two different names, Matt,” he chuckled, “Ryu is that W-T guy. Do you really think someone from the W-T sector of town would give one of their famous locations to an F-Ner?

“That would have been ridiculous,” Scarlet commented, “but now that we bring up the Ice Bar, there are a few things I would like to get from there. I think they closed it for the night though, because of what happened. The only thing that confuses me about Marik’s death is how the killer evaded being seen in a crowded bar and was able to leave only Marik’s head.”

“Scarlet,” Mathius remarked, “you should got here more often—there’s always a certain time of night where Marik took a 30. Running that place by himself took a lot out of him.”

“Oh,” Scarlet replied, her tone indicating clearly that she had simply not been aware of that, “that makes sense then—the perfect time to strike.”
“indeed,” Ryo remarked, “thank you for sharing your information, Scarlet. We’ll be on our way now.”

“Very well,” Scarlet replied, “I need to start preparing my evening ritual anyways, and so I was about to ask you to leave.”

She smiled, showing that she was not trying to be impolite with her statement, but that it was for her religious purposes. Mathius and Ryo respected this, and they therefore left.

As they returned to their apartment this time, they tried piecing things together with the information they had received from Scarlet.

“She clearly didn’t know about Marik’s daily break around 9:30,” Mathius pointed out, “so she was not likely at the Ice Bar at the time of the crime.”

“perhaps these zombies are not just mindless drones like Zuroc’s were,” Ryo suggested, “maybe these were some veterans who had fought Scarlet before, and were showing us as the non-zombie populace that they would do the same thing to us that Scarlet did to them.”

“That’s a good point,” Mathius warned, “we could be dealing with a stronger and smarter force than we first thought.”

YET TO COME…

“You want to talk to Zuroc?” Mathius exclaimed, “you do realize that it was Zuroc who sparked this war with her zombie raid on sector A-B, right?
...
“This just in,” Hara warned, “a riot has broken out in the A-B region of Ay-Pi, which seems to be a fight between F-N citizens and A-B citizens.”
...
“You want my services?” Mai smirked, “it’ll cost you then, but I’m willing.”

~Azula~

[Tera253]

like I said... chapter 2 on 12-8.

CHAPTER 2

“So Marik’s dead,” Pasaraval remarked as Hara came to him with the news. Out of the Mob leaders, Pasa was the one that Hara sided with when it all boild down, as he was from the E-K sector just like she was.

“Yeah,” Hara replied offhandedly, “But they’ve already got another guy to run the place—he was always there on Marik’s off days.”

“That Ryu guy then,” Pasa asked,

“That’s the one.” Hara answered, “You know, you should really consider watching the news every now and again.”

“I don’t have time to listen to Sojun’s crap about how the W-T citizens are always the innocent ones.” Pasaraval scoffed, “I’ll start watching it after they’re dead, or after you start saying stuff that is their fault that they cannot disprove. I still wonder why you work for them, Hara.”

“I don’t,” Hara snapped, changing the direction of the subject, “and you know I don’t. I work for governor Long Feng, and that folk pays well.”

As she said this, she idly slipped a gold coin back and forth through her fingers, smirking.

“You do realize that 25% of your earnings go to me, correct?” Pasaraval inquired, “in return for not torching your house to the ground.”

“Pasa,” Hara smirked, “I’ve been giving you 35% this whole time. If you want me to cut it back to 25%, just say the word. You’ve always been uptight about my doings. Relax; bask in knowing that the E-K sector of Ay-Pi is yours to control. Instead of blowing off that much money in bribing Long Feng to keep quiet about your thefts, just purchase your arsenal legally, and stockpile it. It’s quite the triangle now, isn’t it?”

Pasaraval cracked his knuckles. “I hate how much you know,” he laughed.

“Then get Kichi in here,” Hara replied, “He’s been standing at the door just watching passersby.”

“Bring him in then,” Pasarval ordered, and Hara left the room. She made her way through the building until she reached the entrance, where she found Kichirou. He was simply leaning against the wall, a smoke lit, and a newspaper in his hand. Upon seeing Hara, he looked up.

“Don need something?” he asked her,

“Not entirely,” Hara replied, “I came out here to get your paper.”

“Damn it,” Kichioru muttered, “’Noko actually got something interesting this time around—the W-Ters aren’t blaming E-K for the incident.”

”Really now,” Hara exclaimed, snatching the newspaper from Kichirou,

“Hey,” Kichirou demanded, “I’m not done reading that!”

“I know,” Hara replied, “but Boss needs to read this part.”

“Fine,” Kichirou growled, snatching the newspaper back. He followed Hara back into the building.

“Well Spitty,” Pasaraval said, “Hara said you had something for me.”

Spitty, (which was Kichi’s nickname) somewhat grudgingly handed Pasaravasl the newspaper.

“The Ay-Pi Pack of Lies, huh,” Pasaraval chuckled as he looked at the newspaper’s name, “I wonder why Tenoko chose that name.”

There was a sarcastic tone in his voice, and both Hara and Kichi both knew what he meant—Tenoko was a W-T newspaper writer, but she affiliated with Hara, and vice-versa. As a result, most crimes that were committed were able to be blamed on the A-Bers. No matter what the situation, Hara and Tenoko’s media was able to ensure that Don Pasa’s gangs as well as Tenoko’s band of delinquents were not involved, even if it was obvious that they were. Moreover, endorsement from Long Feng only helped the cause.

Pasaraval scanned the article that Hara pointed out. It seemed to take his interest, as he reread it several times.

“Tenoko linked the Ice Bar raid back to A-B rebels?” he exclaimed, “that just seems too absurd. I bet Don Hama is behind part of it.”
“Why would the W-T launch raids against themselves?” Kichi asked,

“Simple,” Pasaraval answered straightforwardly, “to stir up the other sectors of the city against them. Blaming the F-N would seem like the W-T thing to do, and the W-T knows that they are no match for F-N anyways. And, they certainly know to lick our feet, so they wouldn’t think of challenging our group.”

“The W-T has always been mostly talk anyways,” Hara remarked, “but A-B is easily the weakest. This is the opportune time to take out our rivals.”

“But Don Yao is overseeing affairs in A-B, Hara” Pasa objected, “and he’s part of the F-N region. Right now they’re winning this war.”

“Have you really turned that soft,” Hara chuckled, “or does my intellect and connection with the media again overwhelm you?”

“What did you have planned?” Pasaraval asked, wanting to see if Hara’s plan was any better than his own.

“I control the media,” Hara replied, smirking, “with the help of Tenoko’s paper, the assassination of Don Yao could be logically blamed on A-B as well. They’ve had small rebellions left and right to try and get the F-Ners out of their region. It all fits.”

“Except we need an assassin,” Kichi remarked idly.

Pasaraval grinned widely. “That’s where I would come in,” he replied, “the cash I’ve been nicking from various goods and services will be to recruit Lady Mai. She serves no one save the highest bidder.”
“And where is she?” Hara asked, knowing that Pasa was going to send either her, Kichi, or both of them, to find her and bribe her.

“East of here, probably in W-T territory right now” Pasaraval answered, “She was a common frequenter of the Ice Bar as well.”

“So who are you sending?” Hara sighed, knowing it would be her,

“Both of you,” Pasaraval answered, “now get to it. You’ll need this as well, especially because this is Mai we’re dealing with.”

He handed Hara a necklace with the Earth Kingdom emblem on it, and then told them to get going. To cut a long story short, Kichirou and Hara made it to the Ice Bar with little trouble. There were benders of all nationalities here, and no matter what sector of the city of Ay-Pi you were from, you were welcomed here. Ryu, the new manager of the Ice Bar, along with his assistant Litus, were effectively running the place, doing what they could to keep things calm. In her traditional corner, with her feet on the table, was Mai—15 years old, and already one of the most badass mercenaries a person could hire in this dingy town.

Kichirou decided to get it over with and got Mai’s attention.

“You’re Mai, aren’t you?” he asked stupidly. Mai looked up lazily.

“I might be, I might not be,” she answered, “what’s it to you?”

“A bag or two of gold,” Hara answered before Kichi could reply.

Mai smirked. “So,” she said, “you want my services? I can arrange that, but it’s going to cost you.”

“Of course,” Hara replied, “what sort of absolute idiot does this kind of dirty work for free?”

“Name the target, name the place, and name what you want to happen then,” Mai demanded, swiping the bags of gold, and still not even standing up, “and be swift about it.”

“You think you have what it takes to whack Don Yao?” Hara smirked.

“Indeedy-do, kid,” Mai answered, “your Don asking you for this?”

“that’s our business,” Kichirou replied, “now are you gonna whack him for us or not?”

“course I am, kid,” Mai replied arrogantly, “It’ll be a riot, sure thing, but it’ll definitely get done by the time everything is all said and done. In fact, I’ll probably start a riot even over there—you know, give the media something epic to report on.”

“Then it’s settled,” Hara replied, “tomorrow afternoon, strike.”

“Your wish,” Mai grinned, grabbing both sacks of gold, as was her pay, “is my command.” And with that, she threw a smoke ball at the ground and vanished completely, as if into thin air.

Ryo and Mathius were actually here as well during this time, but they said nothing to Mai, nor to Hara or Kichi. Mathius and Ryo did become suspicious of them though, as they went to talk to Mai. Nevretheless, they kept quiet.

“Are you sure that this isn’t E-K’s fault?” Ryo asked Mathius,

“The E-K isn’t that barbaric.” Mathous replied, “They usually just try and crush you—or moreso, your skull. They would not leave it intact like they did with Marik. This was zombie work, but who controlled them?”

“Surely you don’t think it was Zuroc,” Ryo exclaimed,

“Look at the history,” Mathius objected, “She was the one that sent the A-B sector of the city into chaos, which is totally giving the F-Ners the advantage right now, as she had been the original Don of the captured A-B sector. Sghe’s always said she wanted the F-N to win, no matter what the cost. She’s absolutely insane.”

“And that’s why we avoid her, Mathius,” Ryo replied, “she’s dangerous.”

“I’m not saying we have to talk to Zuroc,” Mathius protested, “I’m saying that someone, and not the Dons, are the ones controlling the zombies.”

“and so that’s why we came here then,” Ryo asked, “for information?”

“Yep,” Mathius replied, “so now we just need to wait.”

YET TO COME...
"Zuroc's cell had been broken open, and her bonds destroyed. However, further examination of the cell quickly showed us that Zuroc had not gone anywhere--she was sitting motionless in her cell, and there is no evidence that she had even taken a step out of it."
...
"LET'S START A RIOT!!!!"
...
"Scarlet. She has to have the answer."

~Azula~

[Tera253]

man I got way too distracted in chat today...

CHAPTER 3
That night, Mathius mulled over the clues he had collected. Marik was dead, Scarlet seemed to have no connection to it, and the E-Kers, namely Hara, were doing something with Mai that she seemed to be in on. He let Ryo know of these concerns.

“And you have the nerve to go to Zuroc tomorrow?” he exclaimed,


“Yeah,” Mathius replied,” Kilon will be there as always anyways,”

“He doesn’t sit supervising Zuroc all day,” Ryo replied, “he’s got guards for that. Besides, what makes you even think she’ll talk?”

“I know Zuroc,” Mathius answered, “She has nothing to hide—you could strip search her and she would not be embarrassed at being naked.”

“Thanks for instilling the thought of a naked 67-year-old woman into my head, Matt,” Ryo said sarcastically, as Zuroc’s body had become subject to the natural law of age, like anyone else had or eventually would.

Mathius simply laughed, “Maybe there IS a reason Heng Geng shows up there every now and again,” he chuckled, “but no—my point is, is that Zuroc proudly admitted to committing the crimes that she was accused of doing. If she had a part in it, she would definitely talk.”

“So what do we do tonight,” Ryo asked, “surely you’re not planning on going out this late, are you?”

“No, it’s late,” Mathius replied, “9AM tomorrow though I’m going to the Police Station to try and get a few minutes with Zuroc.”

“Suit yourself,” Ryo shrugged, heading for the door, “I’m getting some sleep—see ya tomorrow, Matt.”

With Ryo gone, Mathius slumped back onto his sofa, flipped on a game system, and used it to idle his time. He seemed to think better when he was staring at a screen anyways.

“Scarlet still makes me wonder,” he thought to himself, “I guarantee that she would be up at this time of night—she’s completely nocturnal. Nights are always when the crazy stuff in Ay-Pi happens. Zuroc… is Zuroc. Kilon generally seems pretty lax about the whole thing—maybe he’s got something to do with it. Sojun and Shila are just his underlings. Damn… I need more clues.”

And he did. Eventually he fell asleep though, ready to take on the new day.

True to his word, he went out into town and reached Kilon at the police station early in the morning, informing him of his request.

“You’re downright insane if you want to,” he remarked, “but that’s up to you. Just remember that the Ay-Pi police department is not responsible for any injuries obtained should Zuroc randomly strike.”

“Kilon,” Mathius remarked, “has Zuroc ever randomly sturkc out?”

“Actually,” Kilon remarked, pausing for a moment to think, “She hasn’t. That’s why she’s got so many guards around her cell—no one remains calm for that long without either going insane or lashing out.”

“Zuroc already is insane though,” Mathius replied, “and she was always passive once she was subdued by Scarlet.”

“Maybe it was Scarlet’s witchcraft,” Kilon whispered, “I’ve never trusted that woman myself.”

Mathius decided not to elaborate on what he knew about Scarlet, and so he turned the conversation to his order of business.

“So will you let me see Zuroc?” he asked him

“Aye,” Kilon answered, “I’ll be by the door when you wish to leave.”

He led Mathius into the chamber where Zuroc’s cell was. It was entirely dark except for right lights shining around the cell. It was a small enclosed area surrounded on all sides by bars. In the middle of these bars was Zuroc Takamatzu herself, sitting cross-legged, her head bowed. She looked up when Kilon and Mathius entered. She had a smile on her face, but that was typical—Zuroc’s jaw was paralyzed in such a way that it was impossible for her not to smile.

“There she is,” Kilon warned, stepping back towards the door to let Mathius approach the cell, “Don’t listen to anything she says.”

He slipped out and closed the door, leaving Mathius and Zuroc alone. Mathius approached the cell and looked down at Zuroc. She was breathing calmly, and seemed happy, even without the creepy smile.

“Mathius,” she remarked, “paying your fellow F-Ner a visit, I see?”

“What did you do to Marik?” he asked. Mathius remained calm, but there was force in his voice.

“So you heard,” she said slowly, “what did you find out?”

“Nothing,” Mathius answered truthfully, “The only evidence there was Marik’s head on the pedestal.”
Zuroc raised an eyebrow, as if this was news to her.

“So they’ve emulated Scarlet, then,” she said sweetly, “these zombies are getting smarter than I would have ever dreamed. Oh, the fantasy of being their commander again—finishing what I started—overrunning the rest of Ay-Pi and ruling it as my own. I have no shame, Iroh. I would do it again in a heartbeat, and even kill you if you stood in my way.”

“Iroh?” Mathius exclaimed, “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Zuroc replied, “but if you got in my way, I would slay you.”

“That’s good and fine,” Mathius shrugged, not really listening to her, as he, like most others, believed that Zuroc was marginally insane. This might have been an understatement.

“Hmm-hmm,” Zuroc murmured, “so what did you want from me?”

“Where were you the night they raided the Ice Bar?” he asked

“Right here,” Zuroc answered calmly, “sitting in this cell.”

Mathius muttered something under his breath. Zuroc simply kept smiling, as she always did—Mathius wondered for a second what she would look like if she wasn’t smiling.

“You know me too well,” she cackled, “If I had done the crime, I would be bragging about it and driving that Kilon fellow crazy. The things I did do though… I could write books about them. If you listen to me, I could take you far. All I need is your word on the matter…”

But she was cut off, as suddenly a siren went off. The building, however, did not go into lockdown. Kilon stepped in and informed Mathius that he had to leave.

“What’s going on, Chief,” he asked, not knowing why he was being jostled out of the building.

“There’s been an explosion and a huge fire erupting in the F-N Beach Apartments,” he replied, “and we’re getting called to it.”

“You act as the Fire Department as well?” Mathius exclaimed,

“No, fool” Kilon answered, “the police always get sent to things like this.”

“The Beach Apartments!?!” Mathius explained, that name settling in, “that’s where I live!”

“I’ll take you there then,” Kilon remarked, and he did.

The smoke was emanating from the 1st and 2nd floors, right around where Scarlet’s apartment was situated. Mathius wondered how it could have fallen to the first floor, but with Scarlet, he never knew. Shila was on the scene reporting the news.

“What you see here,” she said, “is the smoke from what appeared to be an explosion outside of the apartment of Scarlet Kaji-Yuri. While Miss Kaji-Yuri is unharmed herself, the blast did extensive damage to her front door and some of the hallway floor, which was crumbled into the floor below. There was no actual fire, but only smoke from the incident itself.”

Apart from that though, there was no police line even, and the Fire Department had already declared it safe to enter the building. Scarlet was located above the garbage bins, so that area was temporarily cut off, but that was not a large concern.
Mathius meanwhile, decided to find out if Ryo was hurt, or what Scarlet was doing about the huge blast that was just outside her door. More importantly, he wanted to find out what the hell she had done that had caused that blast.

To cut a long story short, Mathius went down Scarlet’s hallway, looking at the numbers on the doors as he passed by.
“212… 213… 214… holy…”

Scarlet’s apartment was missing much of the wall where the door had once been, and the door with the number 215 was hanging in the gaping hole that had been made in the floor.

“Scarlet?” Mathius called out, and to his surprise, he heard a calm “come in,” as a response. He stepped cautiously inside, but he found that only the wall had really taken damage. All of Scarlet’s strange devices were still intact (except any that she had on the destroyed wall) and the center altar was unharmed as well. Scarlet was in her dining room watching her small television.

“Hello, Matt,” she said once he came into her view.

“Scarlet,” Mathius exclaimed, “what the hell happened here?”

“an experiment gone wild,” Scarlet chuckled, “That zombie head over there blasted a huge fireball at my door, which knocked it off of its hinges—then it exploded in the hall.”

“Is everything else alright?” he asked, concerned,

“yeah,” Scarlet chuckled, “but I got a warning form Sojun and Shila to be more careful or I’ll be evicted.”

“Why is this funny?” Mathous asked curiously,

“Because of what happened,” Scarlet answered, “it was one of those ‘you had to have been there’ moments, really. It…”

But suddenly she stopped, as a phrase said on the news station of the TV had gotten her attention.

“This just in,” Hara announced, “a large-scale riot has broken out in the A-B region. It seems to be A-B rebels against F-N citizens.”

Neither Mathius nor Scarlet said anything.

YET TO COME…
“the deaths of two more villagers confirmed…”
...
“thanks kid… wait. Are you a guy or a girl?”
...
“now that,” Zuroc smirked, “I was responsible for…”

~Zuroc~

[Tera253]

1:39.... bedtime.

CHAPTER 4
“I need to leave now,” Mathius warned Scarlet, and without even waiting for her to answer, he had left, jumped the last 6 steps of the stairway to the bottom floor, and was soon in his car hauling it east towards A-B—or so he thought. He was stopped by Ryo.

“What’s the rush?” he asked curiously.

“You didn’t hear the news?” Mathius exclaimed,

“No,” Ryo answered, “I just got back from the grocery; I don’t watch the news 24/7 like you do.”
Mathius grumbled. “Well,” he said, “there’s apparently a riot breaking out in A-B. I’m going to investigate it and see if there are any other clues.”

“Mind if I come?” he asked, and Mathius started walking again, this time towards his car.

“Come on ahead,” he answered, “we need to hurry.”

He turned the key and then suddenly floored it. Therefore they soon sped off eastward towards the A-B regions. The riots were not hard to find. It seemed to be comprised of squadrons of F-Ners against A-Bers. The source of the riot, however, was unknown.

“When’s Kilon going to show up to break this thing up,” Ryo wondered aloud, “He never was very quick at stopping riots unless they were in Don Hama’s borders.”

“So it might be a while,” Mathius answered, “until then let’s stay on the outside curtain and see if anyone we know is in that mess.”

Therefore they did just that. They noticed a lot of E-Kers in on the Brawl, and even Don Yao had gotten in on the action. Mai was in the brawls, as well as the little blind Sanaki. Shila too eventually showed up, followed by Sojun and soon Kilon.

“Spirits above,” Mathius exclaimed, “they’re only encouraging it—they’re not here to stop the rabble.”

“No,” Ryo exclaimed, “there’s zombies in this rabble! Look!”

But Mathius did not have to, as the head of a woman, a W-Ter by the looks of her, had just been launched in their general direction, stopping at Mathius’ feet. Needless to say, both of them were quite disgusted. Mathius ran back to his car, popped the trunk, and pulled out a pair of machine guns, tossing one to Ryo.

“We’re going in,” he snapped, and they raced into the fray.

They were not the only ones with guns by any means. A pair of drunks, one a W-Ter, the other an E-Ker, had a bazooka each and was blasting the guts out of anything that was advancing towards them. Sanaki was even in the fray, though she was using actual bending against her enemies, setting them on fire.

“Tenoko’s out there,” Hara exclaimed, as she and the E-Kers were also on this scene of madness—only a few yards away from where Ryo and Mathius were standing in fact. “And there’s Sung after months of absence.”

“Just shut up and shoot,” Pasa scoffed, reloading his own gun, “we’ll worry about those drunks once we’re done exterminating these fools.”

The zombies, however, continued advancing. Sanaki disappeared into the fray, and the zombies ended up decapitating an A-Ber, as the attacking mob watched him vanish into the zombie ranks and limbs fly.

After the riot started to die down and the rest of the zombies began being exterminated by some of the more trigger-happy villagers [including, but not limited to somewhat well-known folks known as Tera, Ollie, Kuku, and Nev], Hara, along with Kilon, Sojun, and Shila, began investigating the damage, and soon Hara was on the scene reporting the damage to viewers around the city. Tenoko was picking around the damage for stories to put into the next day’s issue of the Ay-Pi Pack of Lies. Out of all the people who fought, only two were dead—the W-T girl [identified as a woman known subtly as AA] and the A-Ber, who according to police reports was a man named Kip. Mathius and Ryo lingered around to try and find clues of what had happened, or who had been behind the zombies. The two dead villagers were not significant people, and so they had perhaps just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was no sign of Scarlet or Zuroc, or even Sanaki for that matter. They had seen Sanaki fighting the zombies though, and so Mathius checked her name off his list of suspects.

“How could it have been someone in a prison cell several miles away?” Ryo exclaimed, “What kind of vendetta do you have against Zuroc?”

“She’s the only one besides Scarlet known to have directly associated with the zombies,” Mathius replied, “She seems to have the ability to control other people as she pleases.”

“Well,” Ryo remarked idly, “if you want to go investigate her cell, most of Kilon’s police force is over here. We could easily slip into the station and check things out.”

“You sound like you think she’s innocent,” Mathius replied as he and Ryo headed back towards the car,

“I do,” Ryo replied honestly, “she’s too far away. I’d personally accuse either the E-Kers, Tenoko, the Police, or, though you’ll probably hate me for it—Scarlet herself.

“Scarlet stopped Zuroc’s malice from spreading beyond the A-B region,” Mathius exclaimed as they drove, “She is the reason Zuroc is in prison.”

“There was no fight when Zuroc was captured,” Ryo remarked, “Once Zuroc knew that she had been defeated, she went willingly.”

“Exactly,” Mathius said, “She’s smart that way—I’ll hand her that. She clearly know several things that we don’t though,”

“So do a lot of people,” Ryo warned, “staying in our own borders and asking our own people is not going to be the way we find out information.”

“Till then, let’s talk to Zuroc.”

And so that was what they did. However, there was quite a nasty shock in front of them upon going in.

Someone had clearly broken out of the prison—or rather; there had been a large-scale fight of some kind. They wandered in, keeping their guards up in case they were accused of this crime, or worse, in case the killer was still on the loose inside the police station.

“Now do you think Zuroc is innocent?” Mathius exclaimed as they walked into the dimly lit room where Zuroc’s cell was. From a distance, they could see that the bars had been blasted outward.

Ryo took a few more steps forward, throwing fire into a lantern, which he used since he did not have a flashlight on him.

“I do,” he replied, “because Zuroc is either unconscious or dead.”

He pointed to the inside of the cell, where a crumpled figure wearing a red dress was laying in a heap. It was an aged woman with grey hair. Ryo nudged it with his foot to flip it over, and saw the distinct Zuroc-smile. However, there was no blood or bruises—Zuroc was just dead. Her dress still covered most of her legs, which, with the unusual position she was in, was viewed as a surprise. Whoever had killed Zuroc had done so quickly and probably painlessly.

“Damn,” Mathius swore, “I could have sworn that this broad was behind this mess.” He felt her wrists, her neck, and even the area around her heart for any signs of life, but there were none. Zuroc was cold and motionless. If anyone walked in, Mathius and Ryo could be accused of murder, but considering that this was Zuroc that had been murdered, it was not likely that anyone would miss her—except whatever people she worked with.

The only other thing in the cell apart from Zuroc’s body was a note crunched up in her right hand. Taking it, Ryo saw that it was simply a shot sentence with Zuroc’s signature.

“My higher authority has served me well. By the time you read this, I will be long gone.”
~Zuroc Takamatzu~

Ryo shared it with Mathius, who just chuckled.

“She’s long gone alright,” he said, “but not ion the way that she had hoped for. She’s definitely hiding something else though.

”Ryo stared at Mathius with a skeptical look.

“If you’re going to strip search her,” he said, “then I am SO leaving. That least thing I need after zombies is a naked Zuroc.”

“I’m not going to do that,” Mathius replied, searching Zuroc in a manner similar to frisking, “That’s Heng’s job. I’m just here to see what this is, and subsequently, this.”

He held up a small ring that had a symbol on it that resembled an N with a tail—or a backwards Y. It had long been used as Zuroc’s symbol back when she was Don of the A-B region, but now was not seen as often.

“Good,” Ryo remarked, “can we leave now?”

“Yeah,” Mathius replied, but suddenly sirens went off and the whole place went on lockdown—based on what the intercom was repeating.

“Did we set something off?” Ryo exclaimed,

“Nah,” Mathius replied, being familiar with the place, what with his many interrogations of Zuroc, “someone probably just aw the entrance and pulled the alarm. Either way, we’re pretty much screwed now. Remain in plain sight, and don’t let them know you have anything.”

“Lovely,” Ryo sighed, “what a way to end my day—getting arrested.”

YET TO COME…
“There were more people than just Kip and AA murdered that night…”
...
“Do not wory, Avatar Jin. Ay-Pi is running just fine—I have everything under my control.”
...
“I’ve finished the job, boss—now where’s the cash?”

~Azula~

[Tera253]

hey! 10:04!
oh wait... this took forever to get out... never mind *sighs*

CHAPTER 5
Mathius and Ryo somehow got off the hook though. It turned out that Kilon was not at all concerned about Zuroc’s death, and he had assumed that she had been breaking out when they had arrived there.

“Chief,” Ryo remarked, “for the 4th time, it wasn’t us. Zuroc was dead when we got here.”

“Who cares?” Kilon remarked; he seemed in some kind of hurry, “just take the credit—no one liked the old witch anyways, right?”

“Are you alright,” Ryo exclaimed, “you seem irked about something.”

“Aye,” Kilon answered, “It was clearly a setup. Zuroc would not die that easily and that suddenly. She’s way too smart to let herself fall that quickly. She was working with someone—I’d blame Scarlet or Heng Geng.”

“Why Scarlet?” Mathius exclaimed,

“Because Scarlet was the one who apprehended Zuroc,” Kilon answered, “I’ve got Sojun and Shila investigating the case right now.”

“And why Heng?” Ryo asked,

“Heng Geng was closely associated with Zuroc.” Kilon answered, “and they’d talk quietly to each other all the time.”

“You know where he lives, right?” Ryo asked,

“Yeah,” Kilon shrugged, seeming to calm down now, “but he’s usually on that one ridge drinking tea and staring off into the sunset. I think he’s losing it, personally.”

“Kilon,” Mathius chuckled, “you think everyone’s insane except you.”

“No,” Kilon countered, “that would be Ollie. Anyways, I have business to attend to and a story to give to Tenoko, so I need you two to leave—besides, it’s the only way people won’t think it was you.”

“you trust F-Ners?” Mathius exclaimed,

“not really,” Kilon replied, “it’s not much of a story anyways. You two aren’t exciting enough, no offense or anything. We want psychos behind this tale, like Scarlet and Sanaki.”

“you’re not going to accuse Scarlet without evidence,” Mathius protested.

“I know,” Kilon replied, “don’t get yourself into a knot over it. You can come whining to me when Tenoko prints a headline that frames her. Till then, just keep your traps shut and don’t worry about what we publish about Zuroc’s death.”
Mathius and Ryo left grudgingly, and Kilon gave a sigh of relief.

“Damn, they were annoying,” he grumbled, and Shila slipped ion a few moments later.

“Heng’s here,” she warned, “and he inspected Zuroc’s body. He concluded that it wasn’t really her. Whatever Zuroc did was played out well.”

“Bring him in, then,” Kilon demanded

“He left in a hurry,” Shila warned, “he said he sensed zombies. I wouldn’t doubt Heng at a time like this, Chief,”

“Neither would I,” Kilon remarked, swearing and standing up. “let’s go.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Ay-Pi City Hall...

The City Hall of Ay-Pi—it was located in the very center of the Four Regions, and it was controlled by a man named Long Feng. A woman named Jin was supposed to be the mayor, but she had received this right when she was a little child, and was therefore kept ignorant of it by Long Feng and his advisor, Ganzu.

Here, Mai appeared as well as Sanaki. Long Feng thought highly of them, because they profited him well.
“What is the damage so far,” he asked them.

“Flam and Met were taken,” she answered, “their locations are now unknown. I received instructions from Kaji-Yuri Scarlet to monitor Mai during her assassination of Sage Yao. We were separated in the riot that broke out though, and I am unsure on her success. Based on what I can see in her mind though, she seems to have succeeded.”

“Well,” Long Feng smirked, turning to Mai,

“A-B is in chaos,” Mai smirked, “The only resistance now is a man named Silent Wind Kip who is serving as an icon to the remaining A-Bers and trying to get themselves to set up a leadership of their own. Kip is their icon, and a man named Hisashi Sho is sort of the one going around trying to unite their forces.”

“And what are they going to do,” Long Feng chuckled, “launch an invasion?”

“I doubt it,” Sanaki replied, “If anything they’re just going to try and defend their region form the F-N taking it.”

“Very good,” Long Feng declared, “keep it up. Scarlet really wanted you to find those missing villagers though, so keep your senses on, kid.”

Sanaki smiled. “Okie,” she said, and she sipped happily away.

“Oh, Sanaki,” he said, and Sanaki paused, turning around.

“Say hi to Jin for me—one last time.” He smirked.

“And me?” Mai inquired,

“Get a job from Felix,” Long Feng answered, “He knows what’s going on.”

Though this sounded crude, Mai smirked at the thought, and unlike Sanaki, she just suddenly vanished into nothingness. Sanaki didn’t seem to be trying to be stealthy.
* * * * * * * * * *
The Beach Apartments...
Scarlet got out of her car and got her food and drink—it was another takeout from Ariana’s, and she was ready to perform a quick ritual before an early bedtime. However, upon coming to her room, there was a nasty greeting for her—two bodies, both with their throats slit. One, a male, she recognized as an E-K citizen named Met. The other, a woman, was a female W-T citizen she knew as Flam. Scarlet knew everyone though, and this only made things worse.

Ryo and Mthius were soon on the scene, as a bloodcurdling scream from Scarlet was enough for them to hear, as well as a few others. One of the apartment’s inhabitants was carrying a machine gun.

“hey! Watch it,” Mathius snapped as the youth jostled past them. Taking a look at this resident’s face automatically registered who this was with Ryo and MAthius—Tera. They could still not tell if (s)he was a guy or a girl—(s)he looked like a woman and had very long hair, but his/her voice was low. Tera’s clothes were baggy as well, and so it was difficult to tell if (s)he had the chest of a man or a woman. This “ambiguous gender” trait of Tera’s was seen as annoying, but funny at the same time. Regardless, (s)he had a machine gun, and after pointing it at Mathius, he shut up.

“What happened, scar?” he asked, and Mathius and Ryo both resisted the urge to throw something at him.

“The bodies,” Scarlet answered in a shaky voice, “Met and Flam… dead… in front of my door… no notes, no marks… nothing.”

The other residents glanced around and noticed that the only real mess around there was the black marks from Scarlet’s old door. The floor had been quickly repaired, but the paint and carpet had not been restored.

“She’s traumatized,” Tera declared, though (s)he was only stating the obvious, “whoever did this had something set up for Scarlet.”

“Or wanted to frame her,” Mathius growled, looking at the bladework that was apparent on the throats of the two dead citizens. It was one small, clean stroke that had cut their throats and their throats only. It could have been anyone.

“You know,” he remarked after they had comforted Scarlet (this was done surprisingly quickly) “maybe one of Kilon’s men set this up. They probably hired Mai, who works for the highest bidder, and she set them outside of Scarlet’s room.”

“Scarlet forgot something then,” Ryo gulped, pointing at the floor near the bodies. Tera had called the police already, and so people had dispersed. There was a knife that has the emblems of Scarlet’s cult engraved on its hilt. It had blood on it.

“DAMN IT,” Mathius roared, “Why does fate want to condemn Scarlet?”

“I’m not trying to be Negative Nikita here,” Ryo remarked idly, “but maybe she’s behind some of this mess.”

“You still think that, Ryo,” Mathius exclaimed, “Scarlet also forgot her food.” He pointed to a bag and a spilled drink.

“She was traumatized,” he continued, “Someone is trying to frame her. With her door blasted off and this makeshift one not being very secure, someone could have easily stolen a knife from in there and used it to try and frame Scarlet. The cuts are nice and neat—what kind of killer would make sure they were that precise?”

“well then,” Ryo remarked, “we had better have a story for the police, because they’re pulling up right now.”

* * * * * * * * * *
Jin's Chamber...
“Hello, Jin,” said Sanaki, entering her chamber and sitting next to her. “I just wanted to say hi. How was your day?”

“It was lovely,” Jin answered, “Ganzu is so nice to me. He has done so much for me.”

“Oh?” Sanaki exclaimed, raising an eyebrow for some reason, “why is that?”

“many reasons,” Jin answered, and she went off on some tangent. Sanaki wasn’t really listening that much, but she was aware of when to nod.

“He even says that I might become Mayor one day.” She finished.

Sanaki smiled. “that’s awesome,” she replied, “you’d do well in that position.”

“you really think so?” she exclaimed, and Sanaki nodded like a child.

“Why is that?” Jin asked. Sometime during her rant, Sanaki had stood up and was just casually walking around. Jin took no special notice of this, as Sanaki was an energetic little figure that would often have trouble sitting still.

“Because,” she said in her cute little voice, “you make a good target for assassins.”

With one swift, fell stroke, Sanaki had drawn a gun and shot Jin right through the throat. Once that was done, she simply left the room as if nothing had happened. Her mission was complete.

YET TO COME…
“Jin has been assassinated. The source is unknown.”
...
“I think that Scarlet’s working for someone too…”
...
“Told ya she wasn’t dead…”

~Azula~

[Tera253]

woo... 4:43AM...
wow... 4:43AM o.o

anyhoot, I figured I could have a good end-of-year chapter for y'allz... this one's an epic zombie fight. Nev, Ollie, Tiny, Myself, and Zero might enjoy this chapter. [PS--I did.]

CHAPTER 6
Tenoko was the first one to know of Jin’s death save Sanaki. Hara was the second, and Kilon, Sojun, and Shila soon caught wind of it from them. Soon Scarlet was also informed through unknown means, and then the newspaper was published the following morning.

The police that showed up just outside of Scarlet’s apartment asked Mathius and Ryo a few questions, did a few tests, confirmed them innocent, and took a lot of notes. Both Ryo and Mathius were pretty sure that they were listing Scarlet as a suspect, but they figured that they should not ask questions at a time like this unless they wanted to be falsely charged.

The following morning, however, there was citywide panic...

“Mayor-to-be found dead in room; Zuroc sighted” Mathius muttered, reading the article, “this is bad—very bad.”

“Well,” Ryo shrugged, “read me the article or buy me a paper. I knew Zuroc wasn’t dead anyways.”

Avatar Jin, 24, was found dead with a bullet to the throat last evening at 1:49AM, police reports say. Long Feng, 39, was the first to discover the scene of the crime, but there was no evidence that it was him.

“Evidence shows,” Sheriff Sojun stated, “that the assassin was from F-N.”

“Of course they’re going to blame F-N,” Ryo remarked, “W-T always does.”

“Zuroc Takamatzu, 66, apparently wanted the city to know that it was one of her underlings, for there was her seal found at the scene of the crime.”

Mathius looked up.

“So it was F-N, but it was Zuroc.” He remarked.

“and when you think of it,” said a voice from behind them, “the reason that Kilon accuses the F-N sector all the time is BECAUSE of Zuroc.”

Mathius and Ryo turned around to see four citizens—three of them clearly form W-T, and another that looked somewhat F-Nish, but could have been from any region. They recognized that last one as Tera, (especially after (s)he introduced him[her?] self) and the other three introduced themselves as Ollie, Nev, and Kuku. All four of them had a heavy arsenal of weapons on hand.

“anyways,” said Kuku, stepping up, “we heard that there was a zombie attack in E-K, and that’s where we’re headed. We’ll catch you around.”

And they left. Mathius and Ryo actually had a good reputation among all four sectors of Ay-Pi, and so this meeting was no surprise.

* * * * * * * * * *
E-K, Don Pasaraval's ammunition storage warehouse...
Pasaraval, Hara, Tenoko, Kichirou, and several citizens had barricaded themselves in a huge warehouse, as the zombie hoards that the others were talking about had literally just come out of nowhere. However, Pasaraval was no coward, and he was not about to just cower in some crappy warehouse. No, he had chosen this site because this was where his arsenals of weapons were stored. He opened them, tossing out weapons to Hara, Tenoko, and Kichirou. With them were five refugees by the names of Jon, Connie, Flavor, Ruds, and Zuzu. Others were knocking on the doors and windows, but were soon consumed by the zombies. Pasaraval instructed his comrades to hold their fire. He was going to wait for them to try and break in before he struck.

“Any moment now,” he growled, “and you pansies better know how to blow a zombie’s brain out or you’re screwed.”

He directed this not at Hara, Tenoko, and Kichi, but at the citizens that were with him. Not all of them were E-K, but at this point, Pasa did not care. He just wanted to kill some people, and this was his chance. He was at the front line with the citizens around him (which he would have be the bait force while his elites took the zombies out), and next to him was Kichi armed with a flamethrower. Tenoko and Hara had both been given snipers and were on the metal balcony above them ready to pick off the zombies form a distance with deadly power and accuracy.

“Fire” Pasa shouted, and the zombies crashed through the southern windows of the warehouse. Pasaraval went nuts with his machine gun, while Kichirou began pouring fire outside of the windows at the onrushing horde. Just as Pasaraval had suspected, the citizens were taken as bait, and it was not long before Flavor and Zuzu were attacked. Hara and Tenoko did not snipe the attacking zombies in fear of hitting the citizens, but it turned out to be unnecessary. Flavor overpowered the zombie hordes attacking her, and soon was spraying bullets into their faces faster than a hummingbird flaps its wings. Zuzu on the other hand, was not as fortunate, and the zombies had their way with him—or rather, his guts.

Jon, armed with a rifle, was blasing zombies squarely in the face with cunning accuracy and force enough to explode their heads, Connie was using his flamethrower with utmost effectiveness, and Kichirou and Pasaraval remained stubbornly on the front lines, spraying bullets and fire into anything in front of them that moved.

20 minutes later, the onslaught was still going strong, though the number of casualties had gone drastically up. Jon had gone down in what the others called a suicide attack, as whatever happened with him and the two zombies that had pinned him had caused the three of them to explode. Connie remained unhurt, Flavor only had the slash marks on her face from her first attack. Ruds was down for the count, Pasa had taken a few unnoticeable injuries, and the others were unharmed.

“only three down,” Kichirou remarked, “we might actually make it out of this hellhole alive.”

“Don’t be stupid, Kichi,” Pasa laughed, spraying his name in bullets into a line of rushing zombies, “we’re going to make it all the way out, kicking serious zombie asses up and down along the way. How are you holding up there, Hara?”

“we’re doing great,” Hara answered, “we’ve got loads of ammo. How about you?”

“We’ve just lost three citizens,” Pasa replied, “and they did not look like the greatest gunners anyways.”

“watch out,” Connie exclaimed, pointing up at the second floor windows. Four figures crashed through them, spiraling through the air to avoid getting hit. None of them did, and apparently Hara and Tenoko realized who they were, for they did not fire either.

“Ollie,” Pasa exclaimed,” Nev, Tera, Kuku? The hell you fools doing here?”

“kicking zombie ass,” Ollie answered, reloading his gun, “you don’t mind a few extra guns now, do you?”

“No,” Pasa laughed, “but you and Nev get to that 2nd floor balcony and use the snipers up there. We need a backup force in case anyone else drops.”

“Any idea how many are out there?” Tenoko asked as Nev and Ollie joined them up no the balcony and loaded their snipers,

“thousands,” Nev answered, still looking a bit shaken from he whole mess, but otherwise in good spirits, “Zuroc is out there shooting stuff up as well—zombies, I mean.”

“The hell?” Hara exclaimed, “what side is she on?”

“She said she wanted to talk to Pasa if we could blow a hole through these hordes,” Nev answered, “something about an axis of alliance.”

“so why are there all these W-T citizens fighting for E-K?” Tenoko asked, referring to Connie, Flavor, Ollie, Nev, and Kuku, all of whom were W-Ters themselves. Tera was believed to be W-T as well, but her (his?) loyalties were unknown.

“because of you,” Ollie laughed, “you’re W-T too, remember?”

Tenoko laughed. “so is this some kind of W-T—E-K alliance then?”

“snipe now, ask questions later,” Hara interrupted, “there’s more zombies trying to infiltrate this hellhole.”

“It is on then,” Tenoko grinned, “let us play—like Felix Rei!”

Felix Rei was a sure-shot who remained in the shadows most of the time. He was an influential leader, and was therefore known more commonly as “The Shadow Don” as a result. His allegiances as well, were unclear.

* * * * * * * * * *
E-K, about 500 yards from the warehouse...
Nothing made any sense anymore. Mathius and Ryo had arrived at the E-K scene of attack, and seen Zuroc, Scarlet, Sanaki, and Ariana fighting off zombie hordes outside of the warehouse that they knew several citizens had gone into. What side was Zuroc on? What side were Scarlet and Sanaki on? Where were the police, and who was controlling these zombies?
Furthermore, why was this in the powerful E-K sector, when A-B was by far the most vulnerable?

Their question was soon answered, and the answer forced them to start shooting. A pair of zombies saw and attacked them, and after Mathius and Ryo quickly gunned them down, they looked at what was left of their faces., glad that they were out of the way.

“Hiaso,” Mathius exclaimed, “and Zephyros Vayu—part of the police force for the A-Bers. They were on leave because of their ‘Broken Nation’, as they called it—they have been for over 3 months.”

“So basically this means…” Ryo started,

“A-B has been zombified,” Mathius replied, “or they’re in the process of becoming so. Either that, or they’re about to be…”

It began to rain. Mathius and Ryo got back into their car and got out of the war zone, but did not fully leave the area. They were trying to piece things together, and trying to figure out who was behind this grand scheme of things that was going on throughout the entire city of Ay-Pi.

YET TO COME…
“So does that mean Zuroc IS the villain here?”
...
“I told you we wouldn’t lose anything important.”
...
“I’m thinking Ariana’s.”

~Azula~

[Tera253]

wow. after 5 months of hiatus, I return and can post chapter 7 after ChuckNorris-knows-how-long.

that aside, here is the long-awaited chapter 7. much controversy, and intrigue a la Zuroc, Scarlet, Hara, Sanaki, Tenoko, and the Shadow Don.

CHAPTER 7

Zuroc, Scarlet, Ariana, and Sanaki were surrounded, standing back to back and facing the zombie hordes. Each had a machine gun on their backs, and Ariana had a flamethrower in her arms. The other three had flames coming from their fists, and were basically shooting streams of them at the zombies faster than they could enclose the quartet. After the first few rows of zombies were on fire, Zuroc decided to change their strategy.

“Aim for the ones opposite the warehouse,” she growled, though not angrily. Her voice was just scratchy because of her age. Ariana and Scarlet answered right away and began pouring their fire (and bullets) in the direction opposite them.

“You’re reducing the numbers behind us to prepare for the full-scale advance on the warehouse,” Sanaki remarked, getting her machine guns out and joining the fray, “I could really enjoy this.”

“Remember,” said Scarlet to Zuroc and Sanaki, “we need to reach that warehouse at all costs.”

“Roger,” Sanaki replied, reloading her gun, “I’m on it.”

“I am so sick of all these damn zombies in this damn warehouse,” Pasa roared, literally ripping a zombie’s head off with his bare hands,

“Then shoot those bastards,” Ollie replied sarcastically, sniping a zombie that had nearly jumped Kichirou. “You have more guns in this warehouse than most liberals have seen in their lives.”

Pasaraval did not heed Ollie’s words, as he was already living them. However, their moment of high standing was suddenly decimated. Zombies that the snipers recognized as citizens by the name of Loong, Tiny, Sky, and Hybrid came bashing through the roof, and they were soon followed by more hoards. Ollie and Tenoko’s quick reflexes saved them from a painful attack, but Nev and Hara were not quite as lucky. They received a few scratches much like Flavor had, but also like Flavor, they escaped. This may have also been aided by the fact that Tera, Kuku, and Connie had turned around and were spraying fire and bullets at the oncoming zombie hoards with grim accuracy, this getting them off of their would-be victims. The zombified victims, however, had no hope of salvation, as they were soon mutilated beyond belief like all of the other zombies due simply to the violent nature of those fighting.

“Ollie,” Ollie smirked, “being awesome for 21 years and counting.”

“Har, har,” Pasaraval growled. The fighting went on for nearly another hour before anything significant happened. None of the survivors in the warehouse were killed, but they all received some small injuries at one point or another. The event of significance was that Zuroc, Scarlet, Ariana and Sanaki came blasting through the main hoard of zombies, setting at least 200 of them on fire in the process. This seemed to cause the other zombies to pull a retreat for the time being.

“They’ll be back,” Kichirou remarked.

“No, really” Kuku replied sarcastically, biting her gun while she reached into her pocket and pulled something small out of it. She loaded it into her sniper rifle and then acted as if nothing happened.

“I have no humor prepared for the situation then,” he told her.

“So what do you crazy F-N broads want?” Pasaraval demanded, facing Zuroc, for he assumed she was leading the operation.

“There are a lot of things I want,” Zuroc smirked, “but I am not the one leading the operation to break the zombie lines here—that would be Kaji-Yuri Scarlet.”

“Alright then,” Pasaraval shrugged, as Hara, Tenoko, and the rest of the citizens gathered around. Nev, Tera, Connie, and Flavor kept their weapons loaded in case more straggling zombies decided to try and attack, but apart from two or three, none did.

“Does an alliance make anything sound lovely-sweet?” Scarlet asked him, smirking in a very un-Scarlet-like manner.

“What do you want from us?” Hara demanded. “If anything, we would ally with W-T here.”

“That is what we are proposing, actually,” Scarlet smirked, “A W-T/E-K alliance. F-N are no good for this chaos. Don Iroh is effective, but he only keeps a small part of the region secured. Zuroc’s influence in A-B was what this city needed.”

”Why do you say that,” Hara asked, “especially if you were the one who apprehended her?”
Scarlet subtly snapped her fingers and Sanaki’s glazed eyes suddenly locked onto Hara’s.

“Because A-B was not the region that she was needed in.” Scarlet answered, “The destruction there was not necessary.”

“that makes sense,” Hara replied mechanically.

“And so why have you allied with her again then?” Pasaraval asked,

“I forgive easily,” Zuroc cackled, “besides, I see a grander purpose here than simply stopping the zombies.”

“So why then,” Tenoko asked, “is A-B a zombie hub?”

“You tell me” Zuroc answered. “I was in prison up until a few days ago, remember?”

“She makes a good point,” Hara remarked, “and besides, Scarlet is not likely playing a game here—I don’t think Zuroc’s magic has hit her.”

“If anything,” Ollie remarked, “Scarlet’s magic has hit Zuroc.”

“Who cares?” Kichirou shrugged, “I like the way this sounds. If we have Zuroc on our side, we don’t need to worry about her popping out of nowhere and attacking us or using her zombie hoards against us. It’s an advantage really.”

Pasarval thought about it for a few more minutes before coming to his answer. He answered affirmatively, and he and Scarlet shook on it.

“So what makes you betray your region?” Nev asked,

“the lack of determination” Scarlet answered. “I am not going to fight against it, mind you, but right now, I need to side with a more determined region. W-T was the one with the opening.”

“I don’t trust Zuroc” Pasaraval declared.

“you really shouldn’t,” Zuroc cackled, “but I suppose if you don’t want me here, that I shall achieve my finest goal anyways.”

“care to elaborate?” Hara asked,

“I’m simply going to annihilate A-B.” Zuroc replied, “it is an entire zombie-hub. We would exterminate many more zombies than we would citizens. It is a worthy sacrifice.”

“always thinking about this greater good then, huh,” Nev remarked.

“it makes sense for once,” Tera replied, “and I’m against all this greater good crap. Blowing up zombies and a few worthless Air Nomads might make this war go a little easier.”

“besides, Don Yao is dead,” Scarlet added, “Mai assassinated him apparently.”

“how do you know these things?” Tenoko asked narrowing her eyes, “I’m the media person, and Hara’s up there with me.”

“I know people,” Scarlet answered sweetly, “there is no reason to get angry with me.”

“it just makes you seem suspicious is all,” Hara remarked, “but I know you’re innocent.”

“good, good,” Scarlet smiled. “surely you are not blaming me are you?”

“I don’t ave a reason to yet,” Pasaraval remarked, “but I don’t want Zuroc in our ranks.”

“very well,” Scarlet smiled. “Zuroc, you would not mind going northeast for a time, would you?”

“Not at all,” Zuroc smirked, “I have a few errands to run up there.”

“I’ll accompany you then,” Ariana piped in. “as an Air Nomad myself, I will ensure that she doesn’t demolish A-B.”

“sounds like a plan then,” Pasaraval declared, “just make sure that broad doesn’t try to pull any crazy stunts.”

“Assured,” Scarlet smiled. “After all, I have apprehended her once, I can do it again.”

“so the plan is,” Pasa continued, turning to the others, “Scarlet and Sanaki are joining our ranks. Flavor, Connie, Kuku, Ollie, Tera, and Nev are all going to head north to Don Iroh’s region and inform him of possible E-K refugees. Hara, Tenoko, myself, Scarlet, Sanaki, and Kichi are going to attack eastward into W-T and up into A-B. hopefully the W-Ters there got my message, and have enough fighters to help us repel the upcoming zombie hoards and get them out of the regions that are not their own.”

“I can have Sanaki pass the message on,” Scarlet remarked, “and even pass it all the way to the Shadow Don.”

Pasa’s eyes widened. “The Shadow Don?” he exclaimed, “you’re in allegiance with him?”
“Of course,” Sanaki smiled, “he’s from F-N as well.”

“then it’s a task,” Hara declared. “let’s move out!” and that was what they did.

Mathius and Ryo, meanwhile, had relocated themselves to the scene of the carnage, and had tapped into the conversation by listening in from the shadows. They were both skilled at doing this, and they caught wind of Scarlet’s operation.

“Zuroc wants to demolish A-B completely.” Mathius warned,

“but that’s why Ariana is with her,” Ryo argued, “she won’t let her do anything crazy.”

“that’s relative,” Mathius objected, “Ariana’s definition of crazy might be a little less extreme than ours, and so Zuroc could get away with some things.”

“so shall we go to A-B then?” Ryo asked,

“I’m thinking Ariana’s,” Mathius answered, “it’s one of the few places in A-B that no zombies have infiltrated yet. Though we might have to break or sneak in.”

“easy enough,” Ryo remarked. “I just want to get to the bottom of this.”
This tale though, was far form over. It had long since begun though, but the most crucial elements of the story were still hidden behind the veil of mystery.

YET TO COME...
"Zuroc!!"
...
"Do you know how many citizens that is?"
...
"we need to speak with Sojun and Shila. now."

~Azula~

[Tera253]

well, here's chapter 8.

CHAPTER 8

Mathius and Ryo arrived at Ariana’s, which was located at the southern end of A-B. It was technically a W-T possession at this point, but W-T still let A-B claim it as their own. To the surprise of Ryo and Mathius, they found it open. However, it was not Ariana manning the store at the time, but since she was deeper in A-B with Zuroc, this did not come as a surprise. Instead, it was manned by a citizen they recognized as Arako.

“Arako,” Ryo exclaimed, “when did Ariana hire you?”

“It was a while back,” Arako answered dimly, “perhaps if you showed up more often you would be aware of these things.”
“Well sorry for asking,” Ryo glared at him.

“Don’t be,” Arako responded, “it’s how you learn things. Anyways, business has been slow here after the zombie raid. Most people in this sector are zombies at this point.”

“We noticed that,” Mathius remarked, “but do you have any idea who did this?”

“If I did,” Arako replied, “I would have let someone know by now. I’m just busy working my next assassination attempt. Those damn zombies are everywhere, and they seem to have some leaders.”

“Who are the leaders?” Mathius asked, looking suddenly interested,

“Most of them are dead now,” Arako remarked, “thanks to my cunning, but the others are some former A-B citizens. Most of the other regions are unaffected, but there have been a few in my own region. F-N is currently the safest place to be right now. Count yourselves lucky.”

“So what do you know about the state of A-B at this point?” Ryo asked,

“There’s not much to tell.” Arako answered, “Most of them are zombies. There are a few of the Airbenders in the city somewhere trying to sort things out: Kip, Pleh, Hisashi Sho, and even Ariana. Someone took out Don Yao though, and then suddenly Don Takamatzu shows up again and takes it. I’m not sure what that crazy broad wants with it.”

“She mentioned something about nuking it,” Ryo blurted out. “do you know where she is?”

“Last time I saw her, she was with Ariana,” Arako replied, “and I don’t think Ari would let her do something like that. Besides, we all know that Don Takamatzu knows how to control those zombies anyways. If anything, Ariana is going to help Zuroc lead an army of zombies against themselves.”

Mathius was slent. “you’re kidding right?” he gaped.

“with that goon in charge, who knows?” Arako answered, “but the way to find Zuroc is not to wait here, to find her, try taking a look—”

he was interrupted by a small explosion. It could not have been Zuroc demolishing the entire sector, as it was much too small, and seemed pretty distant. It was at the heart of A-B nonetheless.

“it couldn’t have been her,” Arako hurriedly remarked.

“why is that?” Ryo asked, narrowing his eyes.

“well,” Arako replied coolly, “because she’s standing in the doorway right behind you. Scarlet Kaji-Yuri is with her.”
Zuroc was standing there with her typical huge evil grin [since she was paralyzed with that expression], her arms crossed. Scarlet was next to her, holding a strange device with a big button on it.

“Don Takamatzu,” Mathuis growled, “what brings you here; and where is Ariana?”

“She’s safe,” Zuroc replied sweetly. “She has found a way to bring the zombie forces to the forsaken places of the A-B sector.”

“How do you know they are forsaken?” Ryo asked, but Scarlet interrupted.

“Would Don Takamatzu really lie if I was standing right next to her?” Scarlet asked, smiling. It seemed she was trying to keep the tension from building too much. Naturally, Ryo and Mathius had no answer; neither did Arako, for that matter.

“I will assure you,” Zuroc said sweetly, “that you are in no danger. I just wanted you to be sure that the explosion was not my doing. I am not the one holding the device.”

Both Mathius and Ryo glanced over at Scarlet with shocked expressions.

“This was recovered only moments ago,” she said,” it had a delay timer. The zombie I took it from seemed well aware of what he was doing,”

“What was his name?” Mathius asked,

“Hanshin,” Scarlet replied truthfully, but luckily Don Felix, Don Pasa, and the others arrived at the W-T boundaries fast enough to keep them from going that way.”

“So the Shadow Don is here?” Arako exclaimed,

“Aye,” Scarlet remarked, “and I came to ask you to accompany Don Takamatzu and I do the borders.”

“I will,” Arako smirked, and he turned to Ryo and Mathius.

“Shop’s closing, obviously,” Arako remarked, “you might want to find someone with a TV to watch the action if you’re not going to get in on it.”

No. they did not want to risk it. Scarlet was already dodgy enough, and Zuroc was not trusted by either of them, and the risk of death was too high. Were they the only ones that noticed something was wrong with this whole picture?
As a result, they parted ways with Zuroc, Scarlet, and Arako and headed southward to yet another old acquaintance of theirs—Jiru.

Jiru was a chubby, older W-T citizen who was usually in his house watching TV or playing Video Games. He had no enemies, mostly because he held no grudges, and so his place was a safe haven. When they arrived though, they were the only ones there besides the man himself—this was new.

“Ryo, Mathius,” he remarked, letting them in, “make your selves at home.”

“Jiru,” Mathius asked as they sat down in front of the TV, “have you bene out recently?”

“Nope,” Jiru answered, “just been watchin’ the news. Apparently someone’s blown up a building in A-B, and now the whole town is up in a riot about it.”

And he was right. Looking at the screen, both Hara and Tenoko were there, reporting on it.

“And behind me,” said Tenoko, pointing towards the background, “you can see the combined efforts of the Dons of the city—Iroh, Zuroc, Hama, and Pasaraval—all joining forces to stop the raid of zombies from spreading to more parts of the city.”

“Even the Shadow Don has shown up,” Hara added, pointing to a red-clad man in the distance. He was standing outside of a parked car [which happened to be a very expensive car of his] and was blasting zombies with a pair of pistols. Near him, but unmentioned by the media, were Zuroc and Scarlet, who were also fighting zombies. “and furthermore, we have Mayor Long Feng at the scenes fighting alongside the citizens. The only known casualties reported so far are four citizens by the names of Spitty, Fail, Monk and Tag.”

And yet despite these deaths, the citizenry of Ay-Pi was still effectively fighting. They were pressing forces against the zombies that were pouring out of the city, and driving them back.

“it looks like they’ve taken the offensive,” Tenoko exclaimed, pointing out several citizens and benders, including Tera, Iroh, Tev, Ollie, Felix, Sanaki, Flavor, RWT, Hama, and Mai—who were part of the main force driving the zombies back into the city. None of them, however, had expected what happened next.

An enormous explosion—a chain of explosions in fact, inside of A-B, all went off. The zombies, as well as just about every A-B citizen that was not out fighting, clearly had been obliterated. The advancing force of the aforementioned people had been on the very outer boundaries of it, and although they were all blasted several feet backwards, none of them were severely wounded or killed.

“Something just exploded from inside the A-B sector of Ay-Pi.” Hara exclaimed, almost looking like she was about to panic. “I cannot see signs of the zombies at all, but the citizens are fleeing, and for good reasons. The flames behind me are huge.”

And with that, Hara and Tenoko, as well as most of the other citizens and benders of Ay-Pi, began fleeing, but the cameras were still rolling. Even the most stubborn warriors like Pasa, Felix, Tev, Ollie, and Arako fled.

“Holy crap,” Felix shouted to whoever was next to him, which happened to be Scarlet, Tev, and Mai, “whatever that was, it did not look friendly.”

“you think?” Mai remarked sarcastically.

“hey,” Felix argued, “if you want a ride, I’d keep your trap shut.”

“Fine,” Mai sighed, and they dashed back towards Felix’s car. They, like everyone else, were no longer fleeing zombies, but rather, whatever the source of the explosion was.

“That had to be a setup,” Tev remarked as Felix raced away with him, Scarlet, and Mai as his passengers,

“I agree,” Scarlet added, “it seemed to be timed.”

“clearly,” said Tev again, “after this mess is all over, we need some people to go back and investigate the area.”

“I’m in,” Mai volunteered,

“Same,” Felix added, smirking, “you can’t have something like that happen without the Shadow Don.”

“I wonder who else made it out,” Scarlet brought up. After all, none of them had seen who had gotten sucked into the void and who had gotten away, save the four of them in the car.

Mathius and Ryo, meanwhile, were still just staring in shock and disbelief.

YET TO COME…

“I don’t believe it…”

“A-B… entirely annihilated…”

“It was clearly a setup. There is no way that building could have survived.”

~Azula~

[Tera253]

Ages and ages and ages later, I finally present the final chapter/epilogue. From here, it will lead directly into the long-lost tales of zombie-IRP 2010.

Happy IRPing!

CHAPTER 9: EPILOGUE
The blast that had razed A-B had been far more devastating than even the perpetrator could have suspected. No citizens survived the radiation that followed save a few who knew how to counter it. The A-B sector of Ay-Pi would be uninhabitable for a while, as the radiation had turned the place into a zombie habitat. The radiation was much less severe in the other three regions, but it was still present, and few survived. Out of the prominent citizenry, there were but 15 survivors.

Mathius and Ryo were among some of the first to flee the city—and not get killed or turned into zombies. They fled to the nearby Portal City, sometimes also called The Avatar’s Portal. From here, they started their lives over, slipping somewhat into obscurity for a while.

Felix also fled to Portal City, and because of his influence, he landed a job at Lunar Industries, Portal City’s most prestigious company. He swiftly rose through the ranks of the management, and became a very prominent staff member and shareholder.

Scarlet was long presumed to have been killed at the A-B nuking, but she appeared in Portal City suddenly after a while. Whatever the case, it seemed like she had not just arrived in Portal city, as she had emerged as the CEO of a famous company known as ORACLE, which was in similar veins to that of Lunar Industries. The two companies were even ‘allies’, so to speak, and a lot of suspicion surrounding Scarlet died down.

Zuroc and Heng Geng also both survived the blast, and made it safely to Portal City. Zuroc’s supposed life of villainy was soon forgotten by those around her, as she and Heng Geng had been seen lately making a lot of deals, particularly about a “sexy dungeon” of sorts, with a 39-year-old Virginian Communist known only as RWT.

Sanaki was one of the few ‘victims’ of the fallout that received radiation poisoning and survived. After she went to Portal City, research was done on her, where it was revealed that she was immune to its effects. This caused Lunar Industries and ORACLE to take interest in her. She took a job with Lunar Industries, where she remains to this day, serving as an Access Admin to the research labs.

Mai vanished after the explosion but turned up in Portal City a while later, living a normal life. She is believed to be working on a co-op project with and for ORACLE, but there is no evidence of such things at the moment.

Tenoko managed to escape from the fallout by jumping into a beat-up old truck and making it reach speeds of at least 175 MPH to avoid the flames. The radiation did not reach her, and she was able to reach Portal City and settle down. She became a member of the Security Crew for Lunar Industries, where she wound up crossing paths with several old friends.

Hama, using her own influence, skill, experience, and overall awesomeness, became an effective member of security for Lunar Industries as well. Her knowledge of both Lunar Industries and ORACLE made her appear as a dodgy figure towards the outsiders, but the few other [nameless] citizens that had survived the Ay-Pi Fallout remembered her powerful leadership as the Don of W-T.

Kilon took great interest in Lunar Industries as he fled to Portal City. He too was hired for the Lunar Industries Security Administration, which, among its staff, was shortened to ‘Operation LISA’. He, along with several of his old comrades, (mainly those hailing from W-T) kept the place running well. Surely, this had to mean that the “security crew” was more than what it seemed, as Hama settled for nothing less than greatness in such cases. He also remained suspicious of ORACLE, mostly because he was still also suspicious of Scarlet, who was its CEO.

Arako disappeared into the shadows after the blast, but he too reappered a while later as a member of security for Operation LISA. Considering that many of his old comrades were already there at the time, it was assumed that it was them that drew him there. Whatever the case, much of the old W-T crew had been reunited here.
Hara used her influence through the media to land herself a job as an access admin at Lunar Industries.

Hara was the one who jokingly came up with the superstition that Lunar Industries was more than met the eye as well, as almost all of the notorious Ay-Pi-ers that had survived had been hired as employees of reasonable rank. Whatever the case, it has also been noted that Hara has been seen building something out of large metal plates, but what this project of hers is exactly, or who is endorsing and supporting it, remains a mystery.

Pasaraval also used his awesomeness, skill and experience to land himself a job at Lunar Industries, though he was not part of Operation LISA like the others were.His talents in many fields helped him produce many an awesome weapon, and helped him rise through the ranks. His combat skills prevented anything happening there, be it from enemies or zombies alike, that he did not approve of.

Long Feng used his own political influence to become well-known in Portal City. However, instead of conspiring to be the leader of the city, he instead decided to work part-time for Lunar industries and part-time for ORACLE. Thus, his knowledge of the two companies remains vast.

Those that were not mentioned failed to survive the blast, and it is assumed that they are either zombies or that they have already fallen to their clutches. However, new faces and old appeared in Portal City, and a lot of the other AP-class citizens showed their faces again. For some, it brought up a religious superstition theory about reincarnation or simply respawning. However, all of these theories have yet to be proved.

~Azula~